March 6, 2009
Allard Beutel
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
allard.beutel@nasa.gov
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov
Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov
MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-038
NASA SETS BRIEFING TO PREVIEW NEXT SPACE STATION MISSION
HOUSTON -- NASA officials will hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on
Wednesday, March 11, to discuss the 19th long-duration mission aboard
the International Space Station. The Expedition 19 mission will set
the stage for the doubling of station crew members who will live and
work in space for as long as six months at a time.
The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston and will be broadcast live on NASA Television. Questions will
be taken from reporters at participating NASA sites.
The participants are:
- Kirk Shireman, International Space Station deputy program manager
- Courtenay McMillian, Expedition 19/20 lead flight director
- Ben Pawlik, Expedition 19/20 increment manager
- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist
Expedition 19 begins on March 26 when Commander Gennady Padalka of
Russia and NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt launch aboard the Soyuz
TMA-14 vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will
replace Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury
Lonchakov, who will return to Earth April 7. Padalka and Barratt's
other crewmate is Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency, who will travel to the station on space shuttle Discovery,
targeted for launch March 11.
Padalka, Barratt and Wakata will continue science investigations and
prepare for the arrival of the rest of the station's first six-person
crew. Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Frank De
Winne of the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency
astronaut Bob Thirsk will launch from Baikonur on May 27, arriving at
the station on May 29.
Once all the astronauts are aboard, Expedition 20 begins, ushering in
an era of six-person station crews. This also will be the first time
the crew members represent all five International Space Station
partners.
Padalka and Barratt will conduct a pair of spacewalks in June to
prepare the station for the addition of a new Russian docking module.
The Expedition 20 crew will host the arrival of a Russian Progress
resupply vehicle, two space shuttles and the maiden voyage of a new
cargo ship, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV-1.
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the International Space Station and its
missions, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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